Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat presented Israeli envoy Issac Molho with a letter demanding that Israel release the speaker of the Palestinian parliament who was recently arrested, a Palestinian official told AFP on Sunday.

Erekat and Molho were meeting in Amman for the fourth time, in order to advance negotiations between the two countries.

A senior Palestinian official told AFP on Sunday that no substantial progress was made in the meeting.

According to the Palestinian official, Erekat presented Molho with a letter demanding Israel release the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Aziz Duek, arrested by Israel a few days ago, in addition to 23 Palestinian MPs, held by Israel.

The letter also included a demand Israel release approximately 130 prisoners Israel has been holding since the years before the Oslo Accord, as well as, Marwan Barghouti, the head of Fatah's Tanzim armed wing and Ahmed Saadat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who are also in Israeli prisons.

In September, the Quartet set forth a four-month target for the sides to present proposals on the key issues of future borders and security arrangements. The Palestinians believe the timeline expires on January 26. Israel says the clock doesn’t start ticking until negotiations are under way.

Israel and the Palestinians are on deadline to make the quartet smile.
The Israelis are faking it of course, but the Palestinians could not
afford to sit this one out since all fingers would then be pointed at
them. This dreary fakery will go on for a while but it will never even
get near the topic of peace. Israel will undertake various provocations
like this one and others to come in hopes that the Palestinians would
then abandon the talks. This is what passes for peace attempts these
days. Everybody, including the quarted, knows it is fakery, but none
want to press Israel or they will be forced to take a pie in the face or
face the prospect of taking action against Israel.

Can you imagine if an Israeli diplomat was to be arrested in an Arab
country and charged suspicion of terrorism? Israel would consider that
an act of war, then attack that country and then claim it was "self
defense". The rogue state knows no bounds!

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